WORSE THAN AFRICAN POVERTY: Ukraine has been ruined by sanctions against Russia

Even American opinion shapers, such as The National Interest, have come to understand that Ukraine is the country primarily hurt by US sanctions on Russia.

The sanctions that Ukraine imposed against Russia have resulted in a negative impact on the Ukrainians themselves, wrote the American political scientist Nicolai Petro of The National Interest magazine.

Petro recalled that since 2014 Kiev authorities have taken a series of restrictive measures against Moscow, such as refusal to buy gas directly from Russia, imposition of sanctions against Russian banking institutions and payment systems, blocking of social networks and television channels and the ban on air communication between the two countries.

However, according to the political scientist, companies that got under Ukrainian sanctions continue to function normally, while the Ukrainian people felt all the negative effect in their own pocket.

He noted that Russia remains the leading investor in Ukraine. Although Kiev authorities try to prevent the normalization of business relations with their neighbor, their bank accounts are virtually without financial resources.

What he doesn’t note is, what is meant by ‘investor’. Russia is still Ukraine’s largest trade partner. But ‘investment’ comes in the form of loans through US banks. However, these loans have been forced on Ukraine by unilaterally set American terms. This makes sense, since the sitting Ukrainian president was installed by the US following a mock election that barred serious opposition parties, in the aftermath of the US staged coup in 2014.

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This means that ‘sanctions’ (embargo) which hurt the Russian economy, also greatly limit the Russian market for Ukrainian goods. It also means that Ukraine must ‘tow the line’ with many US ‘sanctions’.

Previously, Bloomberg reported that the accounts of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine had the least reserve of funds in the last four years and plans to fill the budget were thwarted, threatening to turn into chaos.

Ukraine imposed restrictive measures against Russian individuals and legal entities in September 2015 against Russian payment systems in 2016 and five state-owned banking institutions were penalized in 2017. At the same time, restrictions were imposed on some media.

In so doing, Ukraine has effectively shot itself in the foot. Ukraine’s GDP has dropped drastically, with average monthly salaries dropping rapidly after the US backed coup. The average income per person during this period decreased in Ukraine from US $429 to $200. The average is also not the median. These figures are harder to arrive at. But estimates range from $90 USD to $150 USD.

This income is less than many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, after the coup, the US quickly moved to ‘appropriate’ the remainder of Kiev’s not small physical gold reserves, in gold bars. This was probably the single-greatest heist that year, followed closely by Turkish theft of Syrian oil during the same period, under the ‘ISIS’ brand.

Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not part of the conflict in Ukraine and expresses readiness for the promotion of a peaceful settlement in Donbass, guaranteeing legitimate rights and interests of the inhabitants of those regions.

However, despite efforts for peace, Kiev continues with an aggressive rhetoric against Donbass and has made no serious efforts to resolve the issue. However, it is also clear that of the two states, it is Ukraine that is suffering the most as a result of the sanctions. This has oddly not stopped Kiev from pushing for stronger relations with the US and NATO.

Paul Antonopoulos is a Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies. He has an MA in International Relations and is interested in Great Power Rivalry as well as the International Relations and Political Economy of the Middle East and Latin America.